Red Peak: South Face

A view of Red Peak (13189'), the Red Diamond Ridge, East Red and East East Red, from the South Summit of Buffalo on May 30, 2008. This shot shows the many avalanche chutes, and also the great skiing off the summit of Red. One can ski any of the obvious lines. This valley is my backyard, as I access it directly from my house. Red Diamond Ridge is my name for the rugged rock ridge connecting the two summits of Red. I've climbed it four times (one 5.6 pitch). I have skied from the summit of Red four times, from the summit of East Red once (in January), and from the summit of East East Red three times (twice to the north and once to the south). The best ski line on this face is the one that drops from Red's summit and then trends just a little to viewer's right to the prominent intersection of two avy paths (D5). This line is easily seen from Wildernest and Mesa Cortina.

Greg Ruckman skiing below the summit of Red on June 13, 2008. A reasonable descent is to do a long run on the main face, but not all the way to its bottom. Then traverse hard left to the top of the steep drop near the ascent route, and continue down to the valley floor.

Here is a view of Red’s south side from the summit of Deming (3/15/2015). Red Buffalo Pass in lower center.

Skied this with Randy Garrison on May 13, 2016, but there was new snow that had become mushy. We climbed it via Red Buffalo Pass. The first few hundred feet of the summit were fine.